Top 10 Cruiserweights of all time?

If we’re going with accomplishment in the division (perhaps with some H2H consideration), among that list I’d have:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Oleksandr Usyk
3. Carlos DeLeon
4. Alfred Cole
5. O’Neil Bell
6. Dwight Muhammad Qawi
7. Guillermo Jones
8. David Haye
9. Vasili Jirov
10. Denis Lebedev

I haven’t done a deep dive so not married to this list or order, and it feels like Johnny Nelson should be on it somewhere but hard to take a lot of his WBO activity seriously. Seems like at that time it was on par with the WBU and he wasn’t really facing a lot of top guys, but maybe I’m not looking at it right.

 

Here's my list for the last 25 years only, did not study the 90s and 80s yet:
1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Mairis Briedis
3. Steve Cunningham
4. Marco Huck
5. David Haye
6. Tomasz Adamek
7. Firat Arslan
8. O'Neil Bell
9. Denis Lebedev
10. Jean-Marc Mormeck

I will use this occasion to pose the question to the panel. Does it make sense to rank the 190 pounds era Cruiserweights and 200 pounds era Cruiserweights together? That's something I was considering lately. I think the weight limit is more important than the name, so what really happend when They changed it, is They removed one division and added a new one instead.

 

I don't think a 10lb. weight difference is worthy of some unique distinction, especially when we rank heavyweights together that have far bigger weight differentials. Besides, Holyfield might have beaten any cruiserweight before or since, and he fought at a lower limit than the recent era of cruiserweights.

 

So not counting the men who weighed 200 lbs prior to the start of the cruiserweight division?

Ok dokey

1. Oleksandyr Usyk
2. Evander Holyfield
3. David Haye
4. Mairis Breidis
5. James Toney
6. Vassily Jirov
7. Jai Opetaia
8. Marco Huck
9. Johnny Nelson
10. Kristof Glowacki

Very rough list. I need to go back and re-study the history of this divison.

 

If we separate out the 190/200 era, we have to do that for a lot of other divisions. Lightweight settled at 135 pounds I think in 1920. We didn’t have junior divisions or cruisers. Etc.

I think we have to consider this one division for discussion, given the relatively brief history.

 

Yes, also the Heavyweight limit changed as well, sort of. It used to be anything above 175, then anything above 190, or anything above 200 - now anything above "whatever the Bridherweight limit is".
We also had a pretty smooth transition. Champion would defend his title at 190 pounds, then the next fight the limit was 200, but it was just another defence of his title. The list I gave has some fighters in there that competed in both Cruiserweight limits, only then I began to wonder if that's the right approach.

I did not know that Lightweight limit was not always 135 pounds, Thank You.
I think what You can often see on the forums, people will use "Greatest Lightweight" and "Greatest 135 pounder" (as example, could be done for other divisions just as well) pretty much as synonyms - so on that front, I think there's something tricky about it. At the end of a day when We compare fighters from one division, what We really have in mind is that common weight limit They competed at, the name is just a mental shortcut.

 

Sorry but no way Glowacki top 10

 

1 and 2 are pretty easy with Holyfield and Usyk and their order depending on what you value but after that gets much more difficult. Here's my list:
1. Oleksandyr Usyk
2. Evander Holyfield
3. Mairis Briedis
4. Carlos De León
5. Jean-Marc Mormeck
6. O’Neil Bell
7. Marco Huck
8. Tomasz Adamek
9. David Haye
10. Steve Cunningham

 

1 vs 1 and summary something like this, I did it very fast

1- Usyk
2- Holyfield
3- Briedis
4- Toney
5 - Haye
6- Jones
7- Gomez
8- Qawi
9 - Cunningham
10- Lebedev
11- Mormeck
12- Jirov
13- De León
14 Norris

 

Wild to think James Toney likely beats every name here besides Usyk.